Friday, October 12, 2012

GroupBook

I recently had the opportunity to try out a new photobook company called GroupBook.

I have tried a lot of different photobook companies, so I have a pretty good idea of what's available out there. GroupBook has a good set up for being able to choose from a lot of different layouts, but most importantly (for me), you can customize the layouts you choose- I love that! Photos can be resized, repositioned, tilted differently, etc. You can also add or remove text boxes and adjust their sizes, font choices, colours, sizes, etc.

You can find Tips & Tricks at their blog and connect with others at their facebook page.

You can share your books online with others (for free) and let them view, copy, or collaborate on the creation of them. You can also share your books as "view only".

I had a great experience creating my book, and when I had a question, it was easy to contact them and get a quick answer. After ordering, it didn't take long to receive the book. It arrived in a padded envelope, and looks like this:

I was a little surprised when I opened it up to find that the pages to the book were stapled together & not attached to the binding! I contacted them and quickly found out that, while this is not normal, they do use a cover that does not require stitching so the pages sometimes come loose if books are josteled around a lot during shipping.

It was easy to bend the cover backwards (as shown below) and slide the pages back inside. When you let the book close again, the pages are firmly in place again. This is not my personal preference for a book binding, but I guess it could be a useful feature if you've got kids who might tug on the book- it could prevent tearing when pulled on, and makes them easy to fix.

ETA: I just found out that GroupBook is making a change in their binding- "while we use the same covers, we are now going to be binding them in there so they don't come out" (this is from a comment from groupbook to this post, which you can read below)

If you're interested in giving Groupbook a try, you can use the coupon code TOMOSON30 - Good for 30% off any Photo Product, up to $100. Valid only once per customer. Expires November 30th, 2012.

Do you make photo books?
What are your favourite features in a photo book?

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

1 comment:

Thanks for the review Heather! I just want to add that we have done a survey of current customers and potential ones and most say they want the pages bound in the book, so while we use the same covers, we are now going to be binding them in there so they don't come out.